Ezekiel 40

As we move into Ezekiel 40 we begin to read of a vision Ezekiel had of the future temple in the Millennial kingdom. This vision is explained from Ezekiel 40-48. “The Millennial what”, you may say. Well let me explain the timeline. The next event to take place for us as Christians will be the rapture of the church. This is where Christ appears to grab us up to be in heaven with Him for a 7 year period, sort of like a honeymoon period where believers will be with the Lord in Heaven. At that same time on Earth, God will be pouring out His wrath on a Christ rejecting sinful world. After that 7 year period, Christ will return, with us, to reign in Jerusalem for 1000 yrs. This period is known as the Millennium or Millennial Kingdom. During this time “Christ will throw the Antichrist in the lake of fire, and God will begin to serve their eternal sentences. Satan will be confined in the bottomless pit, and there will be none of his minions to torment and tempt the millennial earth-dwellers. It will be a time much like the times of Eden, with the earth restored to its pristine beauty. (Read Rev. 20-10.) After the 1,000 years, the devil will be released from the pit for a short space of time. He will lead millions of those who have been born during the millennium in an assault on Christ at Jerusalem. God will send down fire and consume them all. Satan will be cast into the lake of fire. The lost dead will be resurrected (their eternal bodies joined to their souls), and all will stand before the great white throne of Christ to be judged. All will be cast into the lake of fire for eternity. (Read Rev. 20:10-15.) God “Jesus Christ” will remake the heavens and the earth in preparation for everlasting, ever-growing ecstasy in God’s presence. (Read Rev. 20:16-22: 16.)”

This all may sound so crazy and hard to follow, but know this – in the end we end up with Christ in a new Heaven and new Earth. Being in God’s presence forever. As Adam went to Israel this past week he saw how the Jews worship at the western wall. He told me they did this because it was the closest they could get to the holy of holies, God’s “presence”. How sad I thought, because in the future we are promised to be in God’s presence because of the atonement made by Christ on the cross for our sins.